Hosiery-drying form



May 8, 1928.

F. J. KlENEl.

Hosmm DRYING FORM Patented May 8, 1928.

FREDERICKy J. KIENnn or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

' HOSIERY-DRYING FORM.

Application filed October 8, 1925.

My invention relates to an improvement in hosiery drying forms and moreparticularly in drying forms of the type adapted to be internallyheated.

Heretoforeitvhas been customary to dryhosiery by placing it upon ahollow` form the external surface of which has the desired shape vof thehosiery `to be dried. The form is'internally heated -bysteamorelectricity and hosiery placed thereon in a damp condition is dried andset to shape.

Thel drying forms heretofore used, while satisfactory for ordinarykforms -of hosiery, which are essentially shaped in the knittingoperation, have no capacity for materially shaping `or foldingthe'hosiery. For example, in the manufacture of half hose, it is knownto produce thel leg and welt/or top portion in one operation bycontinuous knitting, thus avoiding thenecessityfor transferring aknitted top -from a top knitting machine to a leg and `foot knittingmachine. Half hose made in this manner are, however, open to theobjection that the top or welt is of the same size as the upper partofthe leg, which, while in fact an advantagein manufacture and in use,is, from a marketing standpoint, a` disadvantage, since such hose appeardifferent from the ordinary in the size of the top or welt and vdo notpack neatly. y

Hose ofthe character formed by continuous knitting of the leg and top orwelt may be made toV have an attractive appearance Vand to pack neatlyby so folding the top or welt portion as to make it conform indimensions-with the-separately knit-ted welt or top-,as for example, asdisclosed in'an application for patent filed rby me July` 24, 1925,.

Serial Number l15,739, but heretofore there has been no formwobtainablefor drying the stocking and at the same time folding and pressing thetop or welt in the manner indicated, and it is the object of my presentinvention to produce such a form.

Further, my invention has for an object the provision of means adaptedto hold the hose ontlie form. y

Having now indicated, in a general way` the nature and purpose of'myinvention, I will proceed to a detailed description thereof, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated apreferred embodiment, and in which- Fig. l is a side elevation partiallyin sec- Serial No. 61,267.

tion cfa drying form embodying my invention. i

Fig. 2 is La cross-sectional view on line 2-2, Fig. l.

a indicates a section of pipel upon which the form .71 is mounted, thepipe t being supported in a-table inv any usual mannen, l V

The interior of the form is divided into sections by a partition c,whichextends nearly to the toe of the forn One seCtiOnOfthc form isconnected to a live steam pipe d extending through pipe a, whiletherother is in communication with pipe a, which, in addition to supportingthe form, serves` as a discharge conduit for steam from the form.

adapted to be embraced by the leg 'portion of a stocking is 'reduced inAsize and grooves e of substantial depth are `formed in the edges of thereduced portion. y i

A collar f is clamped on the form adjacent its base and serves tosupport a pairof levers g through the medium of akpivot It. At the upperend of each of the levers is pivotally mounted a blade adapted to 'be'enform, the levers gl being offsetso as to, bring the blades in theplane ofthe slots.

Links j are pivotally attached to the `lower ends of the levers g and bymeans of a single pivot to the upper end of a rody c, the lower end ofwhichis connected to afoot treadle Z suitably mounted on` the licor.` Aspring m is attached to a bracketnon the floorv and to a collar 0 on therodflc.'

The `connection between rod /band foot e treadle Z is `made between a.pair of nuts p thread-ed Von the end of rod le andl lby theadjustment.of which the effective lengthmf rod lc Vmay be varied. The collar voymay be adjusted .on rods/c, thus permittingvariation in the tension ofthe 'spring f Y The operation of the device will be readily understoodif it is noted that levers will be moved around their pivot 7L througver- 100 tical movement of the rod c connected to the levers throughlinks j and on movement of levers g about their pivot blades 1I will beentered into and vwithdrawn from the grooves Y e in the edges of theform. Vertical move- 105 ment of rod 7c is accomplished upwardly bydepression of the treadle Z against the action of spring m, which servesto move the rod c downwardly on release of the treadle.

The blades z' are entered into the grooves e 110 Theform adjacenttheendof that portion tered in the slots e in oppositeedgesof the f bydownward movement of rod Fc under the influence of spring m and arewithdrawn by depressions of the treadle Z by an operator.

In the treatment of hosiery on the form above described, the treadle isdepressed, withdrawing the blades from the grooves and the stockingdrawn over the form. lVhen fully on the form, the top of the stockingwill overlie that portion of the form in which are formed the grooves e.The treadle is then released and the action of spring m'causes theblades i to enter the grooves carrying within them the slack of the topof the stocking and folding it in. The tension of spring m holds theblades in placeA in the grooves until the folds in the top are setandthe stocking dried, after which the blades are withdrawn bydepression of treadle m and the stocking removed vfrom the form. e

The blades also act to clamp the hose to 'the form and prevent creepingof the hose during the drying thereof.

The finished stocking will have the edges of itsl top infolded andshaped in the most convenient manner for appearance and neat- 'ness inpacking.

It will be understood that the apparatus described may be modiied invarious Ways and that a series of forms may be connected to be actuatedby a single treadle, without departing from my invention.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

l. Means for drying and shaping hosiery comprising, in combination, ahollow internally heated drying form having foot and 'leg shapingportions, the leg shaping portion having a cuit Jfolding portion withgrooves Jformed in its edges, and blades adapted to force a portion of astocking on said form into said grooves.

2. VMeans for drying and shaping hosiery comprising, in combination, adrying form having a toot, leg, and top-receiving portions, groovesformed in the edges of the topreceiving portion of the form, and bladesadapted to be entered into said grooves to `force a portion of the topof a stocking arms, and means to rock said arms whereby said bladeswill. be moved into and out of said grooves.

5. Means for drying and shaping hosiery' comprising, in combination, adrying form having a groove formed 'in each of its edges, a collarclamped on said :form adjacent its base, a pair'or' arms pivotallvmounted on said collar, aV blade pivotally mounted on each ot said armsadjacent one end thereof, links connected to said arms at their `otherends, a rod pivotally connected to said links, tension means acting tomove said rod in one direction whereby said arms will be rocked' inonedirect-ion to Venter said blades in said grooves, and manuallyoperated means for moving said rod in the opposite direction wherebysaid arms will beprocked oppositely to'move said 'bla-des out of saidgrooves. Y

6. Means for drying and sha-ping hosiery comprising, in combination, adrying form having a groove formed in the surface thereof, and a blademounted on said form for movement out of and into said groove in adirection approximately perpendicular t0 the direction of extent of thegroove and without substantial movement in the direction of the lengthof the groove, whereby fabric on the form may be folded into the grooveWithout being drawn along the form in the direction of the groove.

In testimony of lwhich invention, I have hereunto set my hand, atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, on this 8th day of Sept., 1925.

y FREDERICK J'. KIENEL.

